Nurturing Reflective Practice in Initial Teacher Education: Dissection of a Self-Directed Learning Session

Abstract

Self-Directed Learning (SDL) was introduced to a Postgraduate Diploma in Education (PGDE) program at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) in 2004 as an innovation to empower student teachers to initiate and manage their professional development. SDL is used as a mode of learning that emphasizes the student teachers' autonomy in exercising independence and control of their own learning. This paper reports on the implementation of SDL group sessions and the analysis of one videotaped session, in order to illustrate how SDL works. This single case dissection indicated that the SDL session appears to have fostered student teachers' professional development across the three aspects of: integrating theory with practice, engaging in constructive sharing and reflecting, and learning to become an empowered autonomous reflective professional.